THE FIRM
The firm for inheritance and family law in Cologne: DR. SCHMIDT LEGAL
DR. SCHMIDT LEGAL is a firm for inheritance and family law in Cologne, and it consists of one lawyer: me. I am Dr Hanna Schmidt, attorney at law, and I founded the firm on Jakordenstrasse in January 2026, after twelve years with large commercial law firms. Anyone who calls here speaks to the person who handles the case, writes the submissions and appears at the hearing.
One lawyer who keeps the case from start to finish
In this firm no case is passed on, and responsibility does not change hands. In inheritance and family law that counts for more than in many other areas. What carries these cases are the small things: the remark the father made three years ago, the promise between siblings. Details like that are almost always lost when a file is handed over.
Running the file is my job too. Deadlines, the state of play and missing documents are all in one place. That size has a flip side: I take on only as many cases as I can handle with the necessary care. If a case does not fit my areas, or my diary is full, I say so in the first conversation.
What twelve years in commercial law firms changed about how I work
For twelve years I advised companies, among other things on insurance law, IT law, commercial law, the drafting of contracts for complex business models and product liability questions, in national as well as international settings. What has stayed with me is less a list of topics than an eye for how companies really work: which contracts carry them, where the risks lie and how business models work economically. I also took part in negotiating complex contracts involving sums in the millions, and even billions.
For you that means: as soon as a case touches on business matters, such as a shareholding or complex contractual structures, I do not have to have the economic logic behind it explained to me first. Where balance sheet questions, property or company valuation or company law are involved, I bring in the appropriate specialists from my network and coordinate them. I advise in German and English.
Four areas that constantly overlap in practice
Inheritance law
Wills and contracts of inheritance, spousal inheritance rights, compulsory share claims, communities of heirs and their division, disclaiming and contesting, property in the estate, business succession.
Family law
Divorce, maintenance, the equalisation of accrued gains, prenuptial agreements and divorce settlement agreements, custody and contact, parentage and adoption, the shared property.
Family law for business owners
Divorce for business owners, prenuptial agreements for shareholders, business succession and the compulsory share in business assets. The area where my background has the most direct effect.
International inheritance and family law
Which law applies, which court has jurisdiction, how estates are administered across borders and how proof of succession is accepted abroad.
An estate with a holiday flat in Spain lies in two of these areas. A separation involving GmbH shares does too. It is at those intersections that it is decided whether advice holds, and that is why all four areas are in one pair of hands here.
How I work
Billing by time, with a record of every entry
I bill for the time I spend, not by the value in dispute. The hourly rate is set out in a written fee agreement, and only then do I start on the substance.
Every task is recorded individually, with its date and duration, and the invoice lists them item by item. The statutory fees under the German Lawyers’ Fees Act (RVG) form the minimum. On request, and where that is sensibly possible, a non-binding cost estimate can be given in advance. I do not offer a flat-rate short consultation.
Availability: appointments until 7 pm
Opening hours are Monday to Thursday from 9 am to 7 pm and Friday from 9 am to 5 pm, plus appointments by arrangement. An appointment outside those hours is a matter of agreement.
Enquiries come by phone or e-mail. For the first conversation I need a short description and the documents that carry the case. If a deadline is running in your matter, please say so on the phone straight away and the appointment will be brought forward.
Cologne as the base, video and phone throughout Germany
The firm is based at Jakordenstrasse 8 in 50668 Cologne. Appointments take place there or by video and phone, whichever suits you. Documents can be exchanged digitally, powers of attorney and declarations work remotely too, and many cases run entirely digitally. I can represent you throughout Germany, wherever the court happens to sit.
Discretion
What is discussed in this firm stays here. That is why you will deliberately find no case examples from my work on this website, no names and no figures. If you would prefer an appointment outside the usual hours or by video, because visiting a law firm is uncomfortable for you, just say so.
How an engagement begins here
01
Checking for prior involvement
If I have already advised the other side in the same matter, the engagement is excluded. That is why I ask early about everyone involved, and for companies about the shareholders.
02
Initial consultation
Then it is about the matter itself: what happened, which documents exist, whether a deadline is running. At the end you know what your position looks like and which routes are open.
03
Starting the engagement
On that basis you decide whether to instruct me. Starting then involves the power of attorney and a list of the documents I still need or will obtain through rights to information.
04
Taking over a case already under way
A case already with another lawyer I can also take over in the middle of proceedings.
YOUR QUESTIONS
Frequently asked questions
Yes, I handle every case myself, from the first enquiry to completion. DR. SCHMIDT LEGAL is a sole practice, so there is no handing over to a colleague and no changing point of contact. Where a case needs additional expertise, for instance in company or tax law, I bring in specialists and coordinate them, but the case stays with me.
For the time spent, at an hourly rate of 280 euros plus 19% VAT, and you receive an invoice with a detailed record of the work done. The statutory fees under the German Lawyers' Fees Act (RVG) form the minimum. Billing through legal expenses insurance is possible, but as a rule the insurer only pays the statutory fees; you bear the difference to the hourly fee yourself.
No, and you will hear the refusal in the first conversation. The most common reason is the subject: if the case lies outside inheritance law, family law, family law for business owners and international inheritance and family law, I am the wrong address. A second reason is capacity. Then there is the professional conduct case: if I have already advised the other side in the same matter, the engagement is excluded.
Yes. The firm is based in Cologne, but a large part of the work runs by video, phone and e-mail, and I can represent you before all courts throughout Germany with the exception of the Federal Court of Justice, wherever the court happens to sit. With business owners' divorces in particular, enquiries also come from outside Cologne. Appointments on Jakordenstrasse are possible but not a requirement.
An initial consultation at DR. SCHMIDT LEGAL
One call is enough to begin. You describe the situation, and I tell you whether the matter belongs to my areas, which documents I need to see and when an appointment is free, at the office in Cologne or by video.